Hold on to Hope
by 27hope
Summary: Oliver and Felicity share a quiet moment and dance at Diggle's wedding.


**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you are all doing well! With Diggle's wedding in the next episode, I had to fix the fact that we won't be getting an olicity dance on the show because…dang it, these two need to dance with each other.**

**I tried to keep it in canon with the show. I hope you enjoy it and I LOVE to know what you think! **

**Thanks for all your support!**

Felicity's eyes drifted around the grand ballroom as she sipped on her flute of champagne. The wedding reception was in full swing, John and Lyla's family and friends gathered to celebrate the couple's second chance at a life together.

It had been a beautiful ceremony, Lyla glowing with so much happiness and John's matching grin made Felicity's heart soared.

She watched as the happy couple swayed together slowly on the dance floor, and for just a moment she let her happy smile fall as she acknowledged the quiet ache residing deep within her own heart.

She'd been working hard to ignore it for weeks, months, but it was there, a constant since a night that seemed like a lifetime ago in a hospital corridor.

Her eyes fluttered shut as those memories washed over her, slamming into her with a force that she wasn't prepared for leaving her slightly breathless.

During the ceremony, her eyes had caught Oliver's and for a moment she saw it all. The future her heart dreamed of, and it was all with him.

Tears stung at the back of her eyes and she blinked rapidly, taking another long draw of her champagne, desperately trying to push all of her emotions back behind the wall she'd erected in her heart to keep them hidden safely behind.

The music quieted, a familiar melody reaching her ears and she smiled, knowing the song well. The air shifted behind her and immediately she knew he was there, his scent invading her senses.

"I've never seen John smile so much," she whispered, hearing the soft affected rasp in her voice.

Oliver took one more step forward, the jacket of his tuxedo sleeve brushing up against her arm making her skin tingle as a wave of sparks traveled up her spine.

She kept her eyes glued to the couple on the dance floor, trying to control her suddenly spiralling emotions as that pang of longing echoed deep within her.

Taking the last sip of her champagne, she found herself wishing for a glass of dry red instead of the semi-sweet tang that bubbled on her tongue.

The soft din of the guests and the music filled the silence that stretched between them until she saw a hand extend in front of her.

She drew her brows together, confusion filling her as she finally turned her gaze to find his.

Deep blue eyes were staring at her, emotions filtering through them that stole her breath, the same ones she'd just been feeling, and they left her bereft of time and place for the briefest of moments.

"Felicity…"

Her name was a whisper from his lips; a question, a plea, an offering.

His wide shoulders rose and fell with the breath he took before he began to speak. "I know you have a date to dance with, but I…"

A sad smile graced her lips, as she dipped her head, his words cutting through her, something about the place and setting stripping her bare of all her carefully built walls erected over the past few months. They crumbled silently into ash and dust at her feet.

She was nodding her head before he could continue, her free hand slipping easily into his.

Calloused fingers tightened around her hand, his thumb sweeping across the her knuckles, making her breath catch.

She placed her glass on the nearby table and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

The melody shifted and slowed, and Felicity smiled at the gentle rhythm. The words of the familiar song floated around them as he placed his hand on her waist and drew her close, her hands finding a place on one broad shoulder.

They fell into step easily, their bodies fitting together, and she felt herself begin to relax. The thrumming of her heart quieted as their breathing evened out until it matched each other, every feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest against her own. The gap between them growing smaller and smaller with every step until her forehead brushed the stubble of his jaw and she let her eyes flutter shut.

She felt his fingers rubbing slow, endless circles against her back, and leaned in, feeling the last of her reservations about sharing a moment this intimate with him crumble as the slow stuttered breath left his lips and brushed over the sensitive skin of her neck.

His head bowed, bringing their faces closer together and it was as if they were finally at the same place and the same time for the first time since that candle lit dinner in October.

The words spilled out from where they were written on her heart and burned into her skin from his very touch, a flame reignited that had been simmering below the surface. They filled the space between them; the gap that had formed the moment she'd walked out of that hospital with the taste of his kiss still on her lips, and an ache deep in her chest.

"I've missed you," she breathed, closing her eyes as she let her forehead rest on his shoulder.

His movements faltered as her words reached his ears, and then she heard his shaky exhale, another gust of warm breath coasting over her shoulder.

He pulled her closer, his hand that held hers tightening as she felt his head come to rest momentarily against her hair.

Her heart beat fluttered, rising to an unsteady, rapid staccato in her chest as the moment rose between them, and she didn't realize she'd been biting her lip until she tasted the metallic tang of blood on her tongue.

"Me too," he murmured, his nose brushing the shell of her ear.

She heard the vulnerability in his voice; the longing and heartache that matched her own and she wondered for the hundredth time why…

Her hand tightened on his shoulder as his thumb traced circles against the exposed bare skin of her back.

All she could feel and smell and see was Oliver and for the first time in months, she felt everything settle into place, a sense of belonging that she'd been missing settled deep within her bones.

She held on to him as he held on to her in this moment that was simply _theirs_.

In her heart, she knew the words hadn't been spoken, that they still had so much between them, but she couldn't deny her love for him just as he couldn't deny his for her.

And so she would take the moment they'd created, revel in the intimacy of it and store it away in the corner of her heart that held every smile and touch and words they'd shared.

Something had shifted once more. No longer was there a line drawn between them for self-preservation. It had been completely removed tonight - the moment his hand had closed around hers - she felt it vanish. That familiarity and natural ease between them shifted back into place.

Their feelings hadn't changed and neither had their circumstances. But for the first time in weeks, Felicity felt comfortable again - safe and secure and loved.

One day, she hoped they could break through that last barrier and be together. But, for now, she'd take these moments, capture them in her heart and hold on to hope for tomorrow.


End file.
